Chapter One
“Son of a…”
Cooper Bryant cut off his curse, needing all of his mental and physical energy to maneuver his eighteen-wheeler around a Toyota that was stuck in the middle of the snow-covered mountain road. Passing the car, he peered down, ready to make a gesture to let the driver know exactly how he felt about people who blocked the way. But he saw the stranded motorist was a young woman. And she had a baby in the back seat.
Shoot!
Well, he couldn’t stop to help. Ironically, the shortcut that he’d cajoled from the turnpike tollbooth attendant hadn’t allowed him to outrun the storm, but had, instead, slowed him down. The twisting, winding route up the Western Pennsylvania mountain couldn’t be taken with any kind of speed. The curves all seemed to hug the edge of the world. And once a semi lost speed climbing a steep slope, it was impossible to get it back. If Cooper stopped now, his truck would stay exactly where it was until the state plowed away the snow.
He made it another couple hundred feet, but his wheels began hesitating. Cooper knew his truck wasn’t going to reach the top. Unlike the driver in the Toyota who had simply parked where her car had stopped, he eased his vehicle onto the first shoulder he found that had more than six inches of space between his truck and a cliff, and cut the engine.
He didn’t like wasting precious hours like this—however, lost time was better than a wreck. He didn’t have one of the elaborate, expensive trucks with sleeping quarters, but he’d passed several hunting cabins. One of them, if not all of them, probably had a woodstove. He had two sandwiches, a thermos of coffee, soap, towels, a blanket and a shaving kit. He could be comfortable for the night, and rested when he got back on the road tomorrow.
Hoisting his backpack of supplies, Cooper jumped out of the cab and into the crystallized white snow. He had switched his trademark cowboy boots for thick work boots at the truck stop off the turnpike exit, but he still had his black Stetson and denim jacket. Unfortunately, they weren’t much against the bite of the unforgiving mountain wind. Cooper was an Arkansas boy, born and bred, but he’d transplanted himself to Texas where he and a buddy had bought a ranch. For the past three years he’d been saving the money he made driving truck to increase the herd and he’d been everywhere from Oregon to Florida. He’d experienced cold, wind, even snow…but not like this.
He tucked himself more tightly inside his jacket as he made his way down the hill. Only about twenty feet from his truck he saw a cabin. Small, with chipping white paint and a sagging roof, the structure was nonetheless good enough for the night. He was about to turn down the snow-covered lane when he remembered the young woman in the Toyota.
And her baby.
Shoot!
He sighed. He wasn’t much on company. Ever. His beliefs were so far out of sync with those of the general population that every time he opened his mouth he seemed to get into an argument. In his reckless youth, that had led to some nasty bar fights. Even his own brothers had said he was always making trouble and kicked him out of their lives eight years ago.
Determined to keep his world peaceful, he wasn’t somebody who went looking for human contact. So, fate should have known better than to throw a stranded woman in his path. He might be able to help her find shelter, but he wasn’t about to play gin rummy until the snowplow came through. If she was a chatterbox who needed constant entertainment, she’d get on his nerves and he’d probably end up making her cry.
Yeah, this was going to be peachy.
Still, he started walking to her car. He didn’t get too far before he realized it was at least two football fields away. If he went down the mountain to offer the woman the opportunity to share a cabin, he wouldn’t simply be going the length of two football fields to get her. He would have to walk those two football fields back up again.
Shoot.
He didn’t want to let a mama and baby freeze to death, but she should have known better than to travel on a day like this.
Cooper continued down the mountain anyway. Slipping and sliding as the powerful wind pushed him along the steep slope, he traveled the distance in what he knew had to be record time. In only a few minutes, he rounded a curve and saw the Toyota. It was now covered with snow, and he could see no sign of exhaust coming out the back. Cooper guessed the driver was either gone or she’d quit running her motor to save gas for the long night. Though he knew having her along would be nothing but irritation to his already frayed nerves, he couldn’t stop a surge of male ego. If she was still in that car, she would be really glad to see him.
With the wind urging him on, he half ran the rest of the way, almost losing his balance twice on the icy incline. When he reached the car, he tapped on the driver’s side window. The snow-covered glass began a very slow descent, but it stopped after about four inches. Then the barrel of a gun greeted him.
Cooper jumped back. What the hell!
“Get lost,” the young woman yelled. “I don’t have any money and I’m not willing to share my car with you. I have a baby.”
“I don’t want to share your car. My truck’s parked just up the road.” Cooper paused long enough to curse under his breath because his heart was jumping like a jackrabbit. Only an idiot used a gun so carelessly. “Look, I passed three hunting cabins on my walk down the hill. I saw you on my way up but couldn’t stop. If you want, you can spend the night in a cabin with me, and I’ll take care of the woodstove. If you don’t, that’s cool, too.”
He waited for a response but got none. Fool woman! Just like a mare he’d bought two years ago. Didn’t have a whit of common sense.
He gave her another thirty seconds. Still nothing.
“Suit yourself,” he called, then turned and began re-climbing the hill, the howling wind nearly blowing him down again. He knew it couldn’t be any warmer than ten degrees. When the sun set even that scant heat would disappear. With the wind chill it would be so far below zero the number would be irrelevant. Anyone without proper shelter would freeze to death. Even if that kid had a blanket—four blankets—she and her baby would freeze to death.
Shoot!
He let the wind blow him back down to her car, then tapped on the window and jumped out of the way as the glass lowered, just in case she aimed the barrel of the gun at him again.
“It’s going to be below zero tonight. You are not going to survive in that car.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“No, you won’t!” Getting angry now, he tried her door but it was locked. “If you didn’t have a baby, I wouldn’t give a flying fig about you freezing to death. But you’ve got a kid. You have to be reasonable.”
“I am reasonable.” She sighed and rolled down the window. Cooper couldn’t help noticing her blond hair, clear pink skin and cornflower blue eyes. “Look, I called a friend. Any minute now I’ll be rescued.”
At that Cooper laughed. “Rescued? Haven’t you heard the weather?”
Her pretty eyes narrowed. “Yes and no. I heard about a snowstorm, but it’s always snowing here. I live on the other side of this mountain. I’m so used to the snow I hardly pay attention.”
“Well, you should have paid attention because this is a blizzard.” He drew in a quick breath and his lungs rebelled at the cold. “The temperatures are falling faster than normal. They’re predicting two feet of snow. If your friend is smart, he’ll stay home.”
Waiting for her reply, he blew on his hands. Even with gloves his fingers were going numb.
When she said nothing, his patience suddenly evaporated and he yelled, “Come out in thirty seconds or I’ll break your car window to save your kid.”
He swore he heard her sigh with disgust, but decided it had to be the wind. Then she kicked open her door and pushed herself out. A blast of air caught her pale hair